From: Reijer Grimbergen yz yamagata-u ac jp> Date: 11 jul 2005 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 1101, June 22nd 2005) - part 1 Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Erase wrinkles without Botox! Nexiderm SP is clinically proven to=20 reduce wrinkles by 68% Click here to get your 30-day free supply. http://click.topica.com/= caadHlla2i6YsbnuqMaa/Nexiderm ------------------------------------------------------------------- In this report the sixth game of the Meijin match between Moriuchi and=20 Habu. An extremely high level game that Habu one by converting the=20 narrowest of leads gained with some brilliant defensive play. Here is=20 the game with comments: [Black "Moriuchi Toshiyuki, Meijin"] [White "Habu Yoshiharu, Challenger"] [Event "63rd Meijin-sen, Game 6"] [Date "June 14th and 15th 2005"] 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P8c-8d 00:00:00 00:03:00 The first time that Habu has tried this in this match. In the second=20 game, he played 2.P3d, leading to the Kakugawari with tempo loss, and in= =20 the fourth game he also played 2.P3d, this time leading to the=20 Gokigen-Nakabisha. He lost both games and the opening was an important=20 part of those losses. 2.P8d allows black to pick either the Kakugawari=20 or the Yagura. Both have been analyzed very deeply and the black winning= =20 percentage with either opening is quite high. With 3-2 down and playing=20 white, courage is required to select an opening that can easily lead to=20 a strategic defeat or where it is easy to end up in the opening=20 preparation of the opponent. 3.S7i-6h 00:00:00 00:03:00 4.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:04:00 5.P6g-6f 00:00:00 00:04:00 6.S7a-6b 00:00:00 00:05:00 7.P5g-5f 00:00:00 00:05:00 8.P5c-5d 00:00:00 00:06:00 9.S3i-4h 00:00:00 00:06:00 10.S3a-4b 00:00:00 00:09:00 11.G4i-5h 00:02:00 00:09:00 12.G4a-3b 00:02:00 00:11:00 13.G6i-7h 00:05:00 00:11:00 14.K5a-4a 00:05:00 00:12:00 15.K5i-6i 00:10:00 00:12:00 16.G6a-5b 00:10:00 00:22:00 17.S6h-7g 00:16:00 00:22:00 18.S4b-3c 00:16:00 00:25:00 19.B8h-7i 00:17:00 00:25:00 20.B2b-3a 00:17:00 00:26:00 21.P3g-3f 00:17:00 00:26:00 22.P4c-4d 00:17:00 00:27:00 23.G5h-6g 00:18:00 00:27:00 24.P7c-7d 00:18:00 00:35:00 25.S4h-3g 00:21:00 00:35:00 26.B3a-6d 00:21:00 00:39:00 27.B7i-6h 00:25:00 00:39:00 28.G5b-4c 00:25:00 00:51:00 29.K6i-7i 00:26:00 00:51:00 30.K4a-3a 00:26:00 00:51:00 31.K7i-8h 00:29:00 00:51:00 32.K3a-2b 00:29:00 00:52:00 33.S3g-4f 00:29:00 00:52:00 34.S6b-5c 00:29:00 01:08:00 35.N2i-3g 00:29:00 01:08:00 36.B6d-7c 00:29:00 01:20:00 37.P1g-1f 00:45:00 01:20:00 38.P1c-1d 00:45:00 01:29:00 39.P2g-2f 00:45:00 01:29:00 40.S3c-2d 00:45:00 01:29:00 41.R2h-3h 00:49:00 01:29:00 42.P9c-9d 00:49:00 01:53:00 43.L1i-1h 00:52:00 01:53:00 44.P9d-9e 00:52:00 02:24:00 45.P6f-6e 01:03:00 02:24:00 46.P8d-8e 01:03:00 02:31:00 47.N3g-2e 01:29:00 02:31:00 48.S5c-4b 01:29:00 02:36:00 49.P5f-5e 02:07:00 02:36:00 50.P4d-4e 02:07:00 02:47:00 51.S4fx4e 02:09:00 02:47:00 52.B7cx5e 02:09:00 02:47:00 53.P4g-4f 02:20:00 02:47:00 A high pace opening and that should not come as a big surprise.=20 Actually, both players have experience with the position up to here. In=20 the 5th game of last year's Osho match, Moriuchi and Habu played the=20 same opening, albeit with the colors reversed. After 53.P4f, Moriuchi=20 played 54.P8f Px8f Rx8f P*8g R8b and then B5g K3a S5f B2b S6f. Habu did=20 not like to fight with the king on 3a, so he plays something else here. 54.B5e-7c 02:20:00 02:55:00 Threatens to win the silver after P5e next, so the next move is forced. 55.S4e-5f 02:22:00 02:55:00 56.P5d-5e 02:22:00 04:40:00 The move everyone expected, but Habu took 105 minutes for it and sealed=20 it. He might have seen a problem here, but even in the post-mortem=20 analysis it was unclear what that was. 57.S5f-4g 02:24:00 04:40:00 58.B7c-6b 02:24:00 04:42:00 59.B6h-5i 02:33:00 04:42:00 Up until this move the position had been played before, but this is=20 Moriuchi's opening preparation. 59.P3e seems the obvious way to=20 continue, but after 60.Sx3e it is hard to find a good continuation and=20 black has to careful to keep this silver out of his position. 59.B5i=20 looks passive, but the aim is to allow white one more move to weaken its= =20 position before starting the attack. 60.G4c-5d 02:33:00 04:45:00 61.P3f-3e 03:12:00 04:45:00 62.B6bx3e! 03:12:00 05:22:00 It is very hard to see how good this really is. 62.Sx3e P1e Px1e P*1c=20 S2d Rx3d S4c R3h is good for black, but why is taking with the bishop so= =20 much better? The answer will become clear in a few moves. 63.B5i-3g 03:25:00 05:22:00 And the position is good for black, was the general opinion in the press= =20 room. 64.B3e-7a! 03:25:00 05:23:00 The second move of Habu's brilliant defense plan. 65.P*5f 04:33:00 05:23:00 Moriuchi sees what is going to happen and starts to take his time. For=20 this move he took 68 minutes. 66.S2d-3e! 04:33:00 05:49:00 There it is. This looks like a slower version of taking the pawn=20 directly with the silver on move 62, but there are some important=20 differences. The black bishop is much closer to the silver (on 3g=20 instead of 5i) and the white bishop is further away, protecting the rook= =20 and the rook now also works in defense. White threatens to take the=20 knight with P2d next, so black has to hurry. 67.P5fx5e 06:00:00 05:49:00 Again Moriuchi takes his time (87 minutes), but he is unable to find a=20 good plan. 68.G5dx6e 06:00:00 05:55:00 69.P1f-1e 06:09:00 05:55:00 70.P1dx1e 06:09:00 06:03:00 71.P4f-4e 06:19:00 06:03:00 72.P2c-2d 06:19:00 06:11:00 73.P5e-5d 06:21:00 06:11:00 74.P*4f 06:21:00 06:42:00 75.S4gx4f 06:48:00 06:42:00 76.S3ex2f 06:48:00 07:02:00 77.B3g-1i 07:44:00 07:02:00 78.S2f-2g=3D! 07:44:00 07:31:00 Another good move by Habu. Simply 78.Px2e is good for black after 79.P4d= =20 (Bx4d S3e) or 79.P5c+ Sx5c Rx3d. 79.R3h-6h 07:55:00 07:31:00 It seems that 79.R5h P8f Sx8f Px2e P*6f seems better (G6d S5e), but no=20 variation in which black was clearly better was discovered. 80.P8e-8f!! 07:55:00 07:33:00 Much better than 80.Sx1h+ Rx1h L*1f P*1g Lx1g=3D S3e Lx1h+ Bx8b+ Bx3e S*4d= =20 and it is unclear who is winning this mating race. Also 80.Px2e P4d=20 followed by S4e, uncovering the bishop on 1i is good for black. 81.S4f-5g 08:16:00 07:33:00 It is painful to allow the capture on 8g, but black doesn't have much=20 choice. After 81.Px8f, white has the disrupting P*8g in the variation=20 after Sx1h+ given on the previous move. Furthermore, 81.Sx8f Px2e=20 strongly threatens N*6d next and if black plays P4d then, Bx4d is a=20 check (P*6f G6d blocks the bishop on 1i, so S4e is no longer a move with= =20 any impact). 82.P8fx8g+ 08:16:00 07:39:00 83.G7hx8g 08:16:00 07:39:00 Now the black position suddenly looks much weaker than the white one.=20 The difference is still quite small, but Habu makes no mistake from here. 84.P6c-6d 08:16:00 07:39:00 85.S5g-5f 08:20:00 07:39:00 86.P*8f 08:20:00 07:51:00 87.S7gx8f 08:21:00 07:51:00 88.P*8e 08:21:00 07:51:00 89.S8f-7g 08:21:00 07:51:00 90.S2gx1h=3D 08:21:00 07:51:00 91.R6hx1h 08:21:00 07:51:00 92.L*1f 08:21:00 07:51:00 93.S5fx6e 08:24:00 07:51:00 94.L1fx1h+ 08:24:00 07:51:00 95.B1ix6d 08:24:00 07:51:00 96.P2dx2e 08:24:00 07:52:00 97.S*2d 08:39:00 07:52:00 98.N*8f 08:39:00 08:25:00 Forcing black to use the gold in defense. 99.G*7i 08:39:00 08:25:00 100.R*3h 08:39:00 08:30:00 101.S7g-6h 08:40:00 08:30:00 102.S4b-3c 08:40:00 08:30:00 103.P*2c 08:46:00 08:30:00 104.G3bx2c 08:46:00 08:31:00 105.S2dx2c+ 08:50:00 08:31:00 106.K2bx2c 08:50:00 08:31:00 107.P5d-5c+ 08:50:00 08:31:00 108.P*6f 08:50:00 08:33:00 109.G6gx6f 08:57:00 08:33:00 And now 110.S*5g K7g and white has the upper hand, but there is still a=20 long way to go... 110.S*7c!! 08:57:00 08:45:00 Again Habu shows that he has seen much more than the professionals in=20 the press room. This is a brilliant finish. If the bishop on 6d moves,=20 white can take the tokin on 5c and bring the bishop on 7a into the=20 attack. Furthermore, in the end this silver on 7c plays a vital role in=20 mating the black king. 111.P*2d 08:58:00 08:45:00 112.K2c-1d 08:58:00 08:45:00 113.B6d-5e 08:59:00 08:45:00 114.B7ax5c 08:59:00 08:45:00 115.P*6d 08:59:00 08:45:00 116.B5c-3e 08:59:00 08:48:00 117.K8h-7g 08:59:00 08:48:00 118.N8f-7h+ 08:59:00 08:51:00 119.G7ix7h 08:59:00 08:51:00 120.P8e-8f 08:59:00 08:51:00 121.G8gx8f 08:59:00 08:51:00 122.R8bx8f 08:59:00 08:51:00 123.G*4f 08:59:00 08:51:00 124.G*8g 08:59:00 08:53:00 125.G7hx8g 08:59:00 08:53:00 126.R8fx8g+ 08:59:00 08:53:00 127.K7gx8g 08:59:00 08:53:00 128.R3hx6h+ 08:59:00 08:53:00 Resigns 08:59:00 08:53:00 A game that looked to become a long struggle is suddenly over. P*8f next= =20 is a mating threat (thanks to the silver on 7c) and black has no proper=20 defense or attack. A brilliant game by Habu with his back against the=20 wall. Winning two in a row after going 3-1 down should give him the=20 psychological edge in the final game. Moreover, Habu has never lost a=20 return match (challenging the next year after losing a match) and=20 Moriuchi has never defended a title. Still, even in this game Moriuchi=20 played really well, showing that he had seen trouble coming a long time=20 before anyone else. The furigoma in the final game will probably a big=20 factor in the outcome of this match. --=20 Reijer Grimbergen Department of Informatics, Yamagata University Jonan 4-3-16, Yonezawa, 992-8510 Japan Tel: +81-(0)238-26-3740 FAX: +81-(0)238-26-3299 http://gamelab.yz.yamagata-u.ac.jp/ Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Get $1000.00 Overnight! Fast and Easy! No Credit Checks! Many Lenders are 100% Paperless! 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